It’s past 9:15 a.m. on a Thursday and Ruca Abbott is having a tough time hauling her 14-year-old daughter, Julia, out of bed in their Steveston home.
Labour Day is long gone and Julia, like most B.C. teenagers, should be behind a desk and inside a classroom.
Instead, the ongoing teachers’ strike has forced the McMath student’s mom to wrack her brain to keep her daughter’s brain active.
And, much to the chagrin of Abbott, it’s all without the provincial government’s $40 a day, per child, strike “assistance” for parents of elementary school-aged students.
“I have a daughter going into Grade 9, but no one has asked about the adolescent kids and why they’re not getting this $40?” said Abbott, a former educational assistant.
“No one seems to care about these ones and they’re being completely ignored. I’m not going to home-school them, that’s not my job.
“But I’ve spent $45 on books and I’m bringing in a math tutor for an hour and half a week at another $60. If we were getting the $40 a day, I’d love to hire a Grade 12 tutor and keep the money in the community.”
Abbott said she’s concerned that, without her involvement, her daughter would end up spending 10 or so hours a day on Facebook.
“We’re having to come up with a bunch of new house rules, but as long as she does around three hours a day of math, reading etc, then I think she’ll be okay,” added Abbott.
“Julia says she’s desperate to get back to school to see her friends and show her teachers how she’s changed over the summer.
“It is obviously very, very frustrating, but I don’t see there being any change, right into October.”
Meanwhile, over at the Richmond Cultural Centre on Minoru Gate, the Richmond Youth Service Agency (RYSA) has teamed up with the library to offer parents a by-donation “strike day” camp for elementary aged kids.
And with the feud between the BCTF and the government looking set to go well into fall, the 25 or so spots at the makeshift camp may be snapped up very quickly.
“We’ve already got around 15 kids signed up,” said RYSA’s special projects manager, Daylene Marshall.
“We just did it in June out of our office because we knew it would only be for a couple of weeks.
“But no one really knows how long it will last this time, so we wanted to give parents an affordable option and partnering with the library gives us more space and flexibility.”
Marshall said the RYSA is asking for a $25 donation for the 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. camp, but understands that not everyone will have access to that kind of money every day and will gladly accept whatever people can afford.
This week, kids activities at the camp include: 3D printing at the library, computer lab games, swimming, outdoor activities and board games.
Families must register for the childcare by calling 604-271-7600.
